No stress

Both staff and visitors where very nice. As Jose "no stress" the tennis coach at the resort put it....the place was stress free. I hope next time the place will have an iron for a 5 star hotel.

Sirenis wae awesome!

from anonymous

My husband and I visited the Sirenis Cocotal in September 2003. It was our first time in the Caribbean, and we had the time of our lives! We booked through Vacation Express. the plane was on time, and we had a great flight. The airport in Punta cana is a not much more than a grass hut, quite a welcome! We rode a bus, it was air conditioned,and the ride was about an hour. The ride was quite an experience, it was great to see the villages, and the farms. When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted with fruit punch, and check in was easy. I sent the resort an email asking for a room on an upper level with an ocean view, and thats what we got. The room was beautiful, very clean, and there was little pink flowers every where. The grounde are very well cared for. The people are hard working, friendly, and always wearing a smile! The food is OK. The mexican, and steak house are good, but the buffet is just as good also. The bars are always handing out anything you could possibly want to drink, they even use the little umbralleas. The beach is beautiful! A few suggestions: -Take bug repellent, and wear it at all times. -You don't have to tip, but a $1 bill will really help get faster service sometimes, and they really deserve it. -Take flip flops! More than one pair as my favorite ones ane now somewhere in the Carribean sea! -Shorts, light colored clothes, some dresssey things for evening. -It really helps to speak a little spanish, but most understand english. -BARGAIN with the gift shops on the beach, start out by offering half the proposed price. We even traded our snorkeling gear we bought an Wal-Mart for some really nice necklaces. There were quite a few women topless on the beach, it just seemed so normal that no one batted an eyeled. We had a wonderful vacation, and for what I paid it was a great value! We hope to return soon and take our children, it is a very child friendly place!

Not very good

from anonymous

2 people, from Aug 30-Sep 6SkyService: served a pasta salad which expired 3 days ago! Air hostess apologised and promised to report to the kitchen; but what a shock!Resort : I have been to 5 different resorts and this one is a 3 star at its best. The deco is bad, the whole place is always dark and dim as they don't turn on lights during day time.Room: The first room has no shower head, lights were out and we were not provided with a TV remote. We requested to change and the second room is ok although one light was out in the washroom. We spent the first day walking back and forth between the reception and our differenct rooms.Food: No seafood other than fried fish every lunch and dinner. Both me and my husband had diarrhea from day 2 all the way to the day after we got home.Steak house: Ordered medium rare, I couldn't cut it with my knife ! Italian Restaurant: Served the exact same dish as the pasta bar at dinner buffet. Mediterrean Restaurent (Seafood) : Could not get a reservation, fully booked by 9am.Bar: Bar tenders have an attitude, it's just a job they do and they don't really enjoy doing it. When I went with my husband, we had to wait and wait and they sometimes forgot our order. When I went by myself, I got service right away with a smile and a touch of hand! All bars close at mid-night and you have to pay for drinks at the disco. If you are into nightlife, forget it. We get up earlier than we did when we had to go to work and there was nothing to do at night other than going to bed!Pool : It is very large and nice. But the two washrooms next to the pool stinks and the lights in there goes out automatically, so it was empty most of the time, I wonder where do people go to tiolet ?!Beach: Very nice, as expected with white sand, palm trees etc. No complain there.Tour: Joined the Bavaro safari. It was an interesting tour but a thunder storm hit in the afternoon and the group decided to skip the beach and go back to the resort. All and all, it was good and every body started drinking at 10am!Weather: Very nice, sunny and hot except for the one hour thunder storm during our Bavaro tour.Insects: Beware of mosquitoes! Everyone has bites! I didn't have any spray on the first night and I got bitten at 15 differenct places! Other than the mosquitoes, it's ok.Overall: I definitely would not recommend this resort to anyone. This is the second time I visit Dominican Republic, I stayed at Iberostar Bavaro. It was heaven compared to Sirenis. I have also been to Jamaica, Antiqua, and Cancun so I know what to expect. Sirenis Cocotal is definitely not up to standard.

What happened to service?

from anonymous

My friend and I just returned Sept 8 after 4 days at the serinis. I found the hotel to be way overrated. I have visisited several all inclusive hotels and found this one to be the worst. I would not rate this hotel a five or even a four star. More like a 3 star hotel. BEWARE of the idea of 4 resturants unless you are staying for a week or more.

We could only make one reservation per day for that day only unless you were staying 6 or more days. We only ate at one resturant the whole time bc the people staying for 6-12 days already booked them. The staff could have allowed more people at each resturant bc there were few people eating when we arrived. No advanced reservations on 5 days or less. The staff is RUDE!!! they would not serve my friend and I several times and other Americans found this to be true also. My toilet stopped up the first day and 7 hours later and 6 attepts to get someone to fix it we finally were able to use the restroom. They charded us for phone calls made using a pre-paid callling card. Our phone bill on 5 calls 80.00us$. My friend made one call using direct service and we were charded the same amount when we used a calling card. The bar closes at 12:00 and the Disco opens with a cash bar. What happened to All INCLUSIVE???? The Italian food was great, the service at the Italian was good but this was the only food we found good. on the last day we were both very sick and had to sit in the hot lobby for several hours before going to the airport one hour away on a dirt road to sit in an unairconditiond airport for 2 more hours. The only air is found in your room so all the food areas are hot and bugs are everywhere. Had I paid more the 299 for this trip I would be mad!!!! I did talk to others on our trip and Secrets is much nicer and around the same price.

Enjoy the Caribbean

from anonymous

My wife and daughter have just arrived back in the UK after our first Holiday to the Caribbean, my wife has been before but for me this was the fist time. I was a little apprehensive about the trip to this resort after reading the differing reports submitted by other holiday makers, however this is what I found to be the real truth.We took the flight from Manchester, taking off at around 11:00 am, the flight was around 9 hours from Manchester airport to La Romarna airport. The flight with Mytravel was not that bad with a reasonable amount of leg room. Dont get me wrong the leg room is not great but better than the flights to the Med.We had little TV screens in front of each seat that had a selection of channels including Films, Kids TV, BBC recorded programs etc. Service on the flight was OK if you dont expect much with the hostesses not really providing anything other than minimal service I felt as though I was just a joint of meat and was treated with as much curtsey but I feel this is typical of most air lines I have travelled on.On arrival at the air port we had to pay $10 to enter the country!!! Not a problem (after about 10 minutes nothing is a problem you are in the Caribbean) we just filled out a visa and left the air port. Straight away we were met by the Mytravel reps who told us which bust to board. Within seconds you are hassled by porters to carry your suit case, they expect around $1 for this service but will leave you alone if you just say no thanks with fire in your eyes, but I would let them take it as the heat hits you straightaway.Once on your bus this is where it all starts, the Caribbean is very chilled and apart from the trainee Valanino Rossies (Bike GP Star) on the road no one is in a rush and for good reason, the main roads are like B roads back in the UK and the side roads, well in the UK they have a sign saying not for motorised vehicles Unbelievable The transfer takes around 90 mins and by the time you get to the Hotel you are a little jaded.The Hotel is very isolated, but the entrance is extremely impressive, you are greeted at reception with drinks and eventually booked it Remember this is the Caribbean and nothing happens quickly. The rooms are exactly as they are shown within the Airtours Holiday brochure, Clean, bright but hot. The first thing to do is take your key off the key fob as this is required to enable the electricity and air conditioning. Once the Air Con is on you feel very combatable I have never had a better nights sleep when on holiday EVER. The rooms are stocked with Spite, Coca cola and Water, the best way to describe the rooms would be a New 5* Travel Lodge in the UK with lots of sun Fantastic!!!The resort will be your home for the holiday as the nearest town is about 10 miles away, this is not a problem as the resort has just about every thing you would need for a relaxing holiday, it has shops (Very expensive so bring lots of sun tan lotion) Gym (basic) Tennis etc, but the main thing is the beach. The resort has a 400 meter section of beach with guards at each end, past that point there are real Caribbean beaches white sand, warm nearly hot sea and not a sole in sight, including locals there are no locals. Just at each end of the resort beach there are two local shacks shops this is the only time you will see a Domminican, they sell paintings and gifts, they are a lot cheaper than the resort but you must haggle, what ever they ask for you will get at half that price so polish up on your bartering power. Expect to pay $5 for Rum, $20 for medium painting, $35-$45 for large paintings. If you turn right at the beach and walk about 1 mile there is a much larger shack (Shop) and that is well worthy a visit, it is not dangerous in any way and the walk is fantastic dont forget to take your cameraThe food at the resort is second to none never mind what the Americans say, my wife is a Chef and catering manager and she was blown away by the presentation, quality and range of food on offer. There are four speciality restaurants in the resort and even though you are only entitled to two meals in these restaurants, you could eat their every night Its the Caribbean who cares but you will not need to as for two weeks we never had the same meal twice. Alcohol is plenty full but limited to local produce, or in other words every thing from Bailies, Vodka and Beer with a Caribbean name. For some reason I have never drank so little, we just drank gallons of water!! Mad Brits!!!Tipping the maid is a good idea as this will ensure you have a full stocked fridge at all times, we folded $1 in to swans, fans, angel fish and even a cobra, which the maid loved and then left them in the fridge for the maid, I even put a old pair of trainers on the bin, only to find them on the feet of the porter the very next day and he was chuffed to bits.We have travelled all over the place, Spain, France, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Tenerife, America, Switzerland etc and never enjoyed our selves as much. It great for families, singles and couples never mind what every one else has said about the resort I would recommend it to any one. On a final note I have never returned to the same holiday destination twice the world is a big place and should be explored but this would be the exception, get over the flight and coach transfer as soon as possible and enjoy your Holiday Thats an order

Loved Serenis!

from anonymous

I visited the Resort in March. I Loved it. The rooms were wonderful, with no little creatures running around, none. Our fride was stocked every day. THe food was amazing and there was always something to do. It was a blast. The "excursions" as they called them were fum to. I recomend horse back riding and the speed boat snorkeling trip. I highly recomend this resort.

Coconut City!

from anonymous

This was a late booked trip with accomodation allocated on arrival at La Romana by My Travel.com. We stayed here from 11 Apr 03 to 25 Apr 03 and the flight out from Manchester(UK) took about 9 hrs. One point to note, this flight carried on to Montego Bay and as we discovered on the way home included a detour to pick up pax from there. So be prepared for your return journey to take about 12 hours. Transfer to the hotel takes about 1hr20mins on some very bumpy roads, some of which are dirt tracks. Would recommend travel sick pills as 'upchucking' was on the cards for a few passengers. The hotel is situated about 18kms north of Higuey on the Coconut Coast with an excellent beach. There is nothing worth seeing outside the resort gates. The site is basically two hotels in one with Suites one side and en-suite rooms the other. There is limited shopping facilities outside the hotel entrance and be prepared to pay big bucks for imported items. A large bag of Lays crisps(chips) cost 150 peso, which is about £3.50 or $6. The hotel appeared to have good wheelchair access throughout, though watch the slippery boardwalks which are also uneven resulting in a number of splinters while not wearing shoes. Rooms- We found the room a reasonable size but the beeds were far to small and bouncy even by British standards. The odd cockroach paid us a visit and we heard other screams in the middle of the night as other critters were encountered by other guests. One good tip is to check your room after the maid has been in as they leave doors open and the infamous man eating mosquitoes will have a feast. I still have the bite marks to prove it! The toilet also became blocked twice and it took 5 hours to fix on ocassion. Our room was also on a main throughfare from the other blocks and sleep was difficult with noisy people heading back from the disco.Food- We found the found varied from day to day with the presentation being colourful and varied and mainly of a Spanish theme. There are 5 resturants to chose from though youuse and Mediterrenean. Don't forget the Dom Rep is a third world country so the food is pretty basic. Hence the somewhat limited choice in (the main restuarants) by USA standards and we heard a number of US kids moaning about there not being any burgers. We had to admit they had a fair point and our son used to fill up on chips(freedom fries) or bread. Aside,if you love tropical fruits then you will indulge yourself here and we made the effort to sample all the food. Some of it turned out tasting very good and not what we had expected. One good tip is make sure the meat is cooked properly as our burgers were always underdone. I fyou ask for a well done steak it will still be bleeding. The staff were eager to please and very efficient and my glass was never empty. I do have one grumble about the number of flies around the food areas and I always tried to dig out food from underneath the top layer. On a couple of nights I witnessed blue and green bottle flies sitting on the main meat trys and there appeared to be no way of controlling these. We all had stomach upsets so take plenty of pills.Finally we found the beach great and it goes for miles. The water is usually clear so bring your snorkel. There is plenty of shade and after Easter had passed we found things went really quiet. The weather was showery and we had 6 days good weather out of 14. Overall, this is not a five star even by Brit standards but if you love the beach and chilling out this is the place to go and we would consider going again.

Definitely not a five star resort

from Tuckers_Travels

What does five stars mean to you? To me it means that I will have a clean room, good food, exceptional service and superb facilities. Having just returned from this resort, I would like to share my opinions of each of these at the Serenis.1. Room (3 stars) - we thought we were getting lucky to be upgraded to a suite in the main building. Unfortunately as we entered the room, we first noticed a bad smell undoubtedly due to a combination of stale air and humid climate. The A/C does not run unless your key is in a slot to activate the electrical system so the room does not get much fresh air. If you open the windows, prepare for an infestation of mosquitos and other winged critters. The room was large and the bed was firm, both nice things. Many of the light bulbs were burned out including the one over the toilet. That was accompanied by a slow leak just over the toilet which was unwelcomed while trying to do your business. Our phone had been pulled out of the wall and was unusable. We quickly found out that our room wasn't so bad when we saw the room of the other couple we were traveling with. Cleanliness of the room was okay but with that smell you just couldn't get comfortable. 2. Food (2 stars) - not much to say here except that the food is at the lower range of what is available in the DR. Most of the reviews you read about food say about the same thing. The buffets consist of some edible food and some that you wouldn't give your dog. The food is very simple and the daily entrees are the same basic ingredients just prepared slightly different. Nice selection of cheeses and olives though. One caution, there was a cookout on the beach one afternoon and the sausage that I was given was still raw. They don't always cook the meat thoroughly (like chicken and pork). 2.5 Drinks (2 stars) - the alcoholic drinks available are rail which means that all the various alcohols are made by one company, Normandy. You can only get one kind of beer, Presidente. 3. Service (4.5 stars) - one thing that will stay with me after this trip is how friendly and happy the staff are. Take your spanish-english dictionairy with you and you will get pretty much anything you need. We submitted a list of things that were wrong with our room and they were attended to expeditiously (except the phone which required a technician and it was Saturday). We did have to wait a long time for towels one evening but you can always speak to a manager and they are very responsive. I would recommend tipping your waitstaff at dinner a few dollars and try to stick with the same people each night. They will treat you like VIP's and go the extra step to provide drinks and table service as you eat. 4. Facilities (4 stars) - Serenis is located on a prime strip of beach. It is perhaps their best asset. If you love just soaking up the sun and taking a dip in the ocean, this is the place for you. They also have several very nice pools including one with a swim up bar. There's no beach service so you have to go a little distance to get some drinks so pack in a couple bottles of water. It was also nice that the motorized water sports did not take place along the beach front so it was peaceful. The fitness center is a little bit of a joke with small space and old equipment. A few other miscellaneous things - there is nothing to do at night here. We found out that the resort next door, Seacret's, had a small casino so we went there every night to play blackjack and drink premium drinks. It costs $20 per person to go but the front desk of the Serenis will provide you with $10 of match play and the $20 is refundable from the casino as you leave (something they don't really tell you). The resort is located about 55 minutes from the airport and is not near any other forms of entertainment except as I've described above. The Serenis seemed to have mostly Canadian and European vacationers, we did not encounter very many Americans. It seems most of them were next door at Seacret's. Overall, I when I was checking out, I wanted to take two of their stars with me. A little bit of work on the quality of the rooms and the addition of premium alcohol and additional beer choices would make them a four star resort in my opinion. To be a five star, they need to check out what's going on over at the Melia Caribe (now that's a five star resort).We took a trip to the Melia Caribe in search of wedding sites and were blown away with how nice it is. I can't speak to the food there but we did check out a random room and toured the grounds. This is where our friends have decided to get married later this year.

Sirenis Cocotal, Punta Cana - great vacation, but be aware!

from roobard

Introduction Upon first glance this may seem like a long review which

goes into specific detail, but please read it as I feel it contains a

fair assessment of our holiday there. I travelled to the Sirenis

Cocotal Beach Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic with a friend (2

straight blokes before you ask) for the middle 2 weeks of September

2002. We booked it a month or so previously from a recommendation from

an on-line travel agent booked via teletextholidays. We wanted

somewhere all-inclusive to swim, relax and enjoy the sun, but also

wanted something to do in the evenings. This sounded perfect because we

were told of the various bars and restaurants, nightly entertainment

and the disco as well as the beautiful surroundings and the beach. We

did a bit of research and it looked like the perfect place.

Arrival and initial impressions The flight from Gatwick was 9.5 hours

and was with MyTravel (formerly Airtours), then there was a 90 minute

coach ride to the hotel which is a bit of an excursion in itself.

However, I was a little surprised about the way Jan, the Airtours rep,

was describing the local towns as we were passing through, making fun

of the way the meat was hanging off hooks outside shops and having a

general condescending attitude to things. Anyway, the resort is

literally in the middle of nowhere so don't expect to be able to go out

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